What do you think?
Rate this book
Amors pilar
Feelgood för alla som gillar Sex Education och Heartstopper!
Teddy och Tilly har varit kompisar sedan de var bebisar, men nu har Teddy blivit besatt av Katherine Cooper-Bunting. Tilly inser att om det ska bli något mellan dem måste hon hjälpa Teddy på traven. Hon hade inte räknat med att det skulle leda till att hon plötsligt var med i en pjäs och stod på en scen tillsammans med Katherine. Inte heller hade hon räknat med att luften skulle vara så elektrisk mellan henne och Katherine.
Underbara karaktärer och massa relationstrassel i ljuvlig berättelse om kärlek, sex och allt däremellan!
Teddy och Tilly har varit kompisar sedan de var bebisar, men nu har Teddy blivit besatt av Katherine Cooper-Bunting. Tilly inser att om det ska bli något mellan dem måste hon hjälpa Teddy på traven. Hon hade inte räknat med att det skulle leda till att hon plötsligt var med i en pjäs och stod på en scen tillsammans med Katherine. Inte heller hade hon räknat med att luften skulle vara så elektrisk mellan henne och Katherine.
Underbara karaktärer och massa relationstrassel i ljuvlig berättelse om kärlek, sex och allt däremellan!
380 pages, Hardcover
First published January 2, 2023
About the author
Wibke Brueggemann
4 books99 followersWibke Brueggemann grew up in northern Germany and the southern United States, but calls London her home. She originally studied acting at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts but ended up becoming a writer. She has a Master's in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University, where she was the recipient of the Bath Spa University Writing Award. Wibke enjoys traveling, and is a clandestine lover of romantic poetry and Rennaissance art. Love for Losers is her debut novel. @wibkebruggeman
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews
July 31, 2023
tiktok buzzword soup with a gorgeous cover
November 15, 2023
For anyone who doesn’t know, I am a big theatre fan. Big. Huge. If I’m not reading then you can probably find me at a show, particularly - and this was SO exciting for me - at some of the ones mentioned in this book!
This was full of the kind of showmance/backstage drama I live for and it’s dialled up to 100 because it’s teens falling hard and fast and making mistakes and not always coping in the best of ways. It’s so human and bittersweet and funny. There’s sex positivity here and hormones galore and first loves and family troubles PLUS putting on a show. The am-dram group it follows is a bizarre and wonderful mix of characters that mess up and show up for each other. There is such a sense of community, and just reading about the act of people making tea for others in need was almost enough to make me tear up.
I didn’t know before going into this one that it would be set post-lockdowns, but I’m actually so glad that it touches on the effects the pandemic had on not only people but the arts and theatre industry. The discussions of familial grief, loss of work, pivoting to new careers to stay afloat etc. felt so current and relevant and getting to explore the impact it had on this one creative family as well as the wider arts world definitely worked for me. I would check out CWs on this one just because it features topics like loss, dealing with Alzheimer’s in the family, and has some mentions of disordered eating. Take care of yourselves while reading 💛
3.5 ⭐️
This was full of the kind of showmance/backstage drama I live for and it’s dialled up to 100 because it’s teens falling hard and fast and making mistakes and not always coping in the best of ways. It’s so human and bittersweet and funny. There’s sex positivity here and hormones galore and first loves and family troubles PLUS putting on a show. The am-dram group it follows is a bizarre and wonderful mix of characters that mess up and show up for each other. There is such a sense of community, and just reading about the act of people making tea for others in need was almost enough to make me tear up.
I didn’t know before going into this one that it would be set post-lockdowns, but I’m actually so glad that it touches on the effects the pandemic had on not only people but the arts and theatre industry. The discussions of familial grief, loss of work, pivoting to new careers to stay afloat etc. felt so current and relevant and getting to explore the impact it had on this one creative family as well as the wider arts world definitely worked for me. I would check out CWs on this one just because it features topics like loss, dealing with Alzheimer’s in the family, and has some mentions of disordered eating. Take care of yourselves while reading 💛
3.5 ⭐️
December 29, 2023
This is the most painfully realistic book I've read about being a teenager. At some points Tilly "wonder[s] if I’d have to spend the rest of my life feeling both aroused and miserable," and that really is what she's like through the whole book: confused, horny, and sad. I don't know about your teenage experience, but that felt uncomfortably true to being flooded with adolescent hormones. It's both the biggest positive and negative of the book.
I do want to give some warnings for this, not so much in terms of content but tone. I found this a stressful read, both because of Tilly having to shoulder far more of her grandfather's care than she should have had to, and because of her stress and guilt about lying to Teddy. I also want to give a content warning for outing. One more thing, if it wasn't obvious: there is a lot of sex talk.
If you want to be transported to the awkward, stressful, and often miserable time of being a teenager, this book does it perfectly. I would have enjoyed it even more if I had read it as a teen, I'm sure.
Full review at the Lesbrary.
I do want to give some warnings for this, not so much in terms of content but tone. I found this a stressful read, both because of Tilly having to shoulder far more of her grandfather's care than she should have had to, and because of her stress and guilt about lying to Teddy. I also want to give a content warning for outing. One more thing, if it wasn't obvious: there is a lot of sex talk.
If you want to be transported to the awkward, stressful, and often miserable time of being a teenager, this book does it perfectly. I would have enjoyed it even more if I had read it as a teen, I'm sure.
Full review at the Lesbrary.
November 17, 2023
I had to stop reading this book 15% into it. I try to give every book the benefit of the doubt but this book was not it. First the comment about how life isn't like a tiktok made me cringe. Then, the several pages I had to read about "jizz" and "making sure she comes" told me how much I wasn't gonna enjoy this book. Finally, the writing throughout the book was god awful. I'm around that age and I can tell you teenagers do not talk like Tilly or Teddy do. I can tell that the author knows nothing about how teens talk, so she just used a bunch of random slang that makes the book 100 times worse.
November 17, 2024
Five stars for the cover, 2 and a half star for the book. #itiswhatitis
January 31, 2024
This is actual shite. And it’s creepy. And it’s cringy. I decided to see how old the author was when Tilly mentioned she was 16 and I couldn’t find her age but I did find a picture. She is definitely not near 16. You can tell from the way this is written. I might update this because I’m only about halfway through but I’m genuinely disgusted. I’m a sixteen year old lesbian drama kid, this is unreadable and I was shocked to see all the good reviews. Istg people just have zero standards when it comes to lgbtq ya literature.
Want to Read
June 6, 2023Uhhh I desperately need to know the cover artist for this bc I'm obsessed
December 16, 2024
I LOVED THIS
December 25, 2023
2023 reads: 392/350
i received a digital review copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating.
when tilly’s best friend, teddy, ropes her into a plan to woo his crush, katherine cooper-bunting, tilly reluctantly agrees. this plan involves auditioning for the same play as katherine, though neither tilly nor teddy are the artsy type. in such close proximity, tilly can see what teddy sees in katherine—and, unfortunately, cupid strikes her hard.
as a former theatre kid, it made my heart so happy to read about a girl formerly uninterested in theatre find a home there. tilly didn’t play a role, but she was assistant director, which means she went to the practices and had a lot of contact with the others (including, of course, katherine). so, the aspect of friendship was pretty strong, which i unfortunately do not see enough of in romance books. i liked the romance aspect as well, since tilly and katherine’s relationship was a slowburn and they had to keep it secret. overall, this was a great read and i recommend it to ya romance readers.
i received a digital review copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating.
when tilly’s best friend, teddy, ropes her into a plan to woo his crush, katherine cooper-bunting, tilly reluctantly agrees. this plan involves auditioning for the same play as katherine, though neither tilly nor teddy are the artsy type. in such close proximity, tilly can see what teddy sees in katherine—and, unfortunately, cupid strikes her hard.
as a former theatre kid, it made my heart so happy to read about a girl formerly uninterested in theatre find a home there. tilly didn’t play a role, but she was assistant director, which means she went to the practices and had a lot of contact with the others (including, of course, katherine). so, the aspect of friendship was pretty strong, which i unfortunately do not see enough of in romance books. i liked the romance aspect as well, since tilly and katherine’s relationship was a slowburn and they had to keep it secret. overall, this was a great read and i recommend it to ya romance readers.
June 11, 2026
"Isn’t love just the absolute pits?"
We follow sixteen year old Tilly, who reluctantly agrees to help her best friend Teddy win over his crush, Katherine Cooper-Bunting (and yes, you will read that full name approximately seven thousand times per chapter), by joining a local theatre production. Naturally, this being YA romance, things do not stay simple. Tilly catches feelings for Katherine, loyalty gets messy, emotions get louder, and everything spirals into the sort of romantic confusion that makes you grateful you’re no longer sixteen and spiritually allergic to group projects.
The book leans heavily into its stylistic gimmick: it reads like a teenage diary, all breathless confession, clipped observation, and the word “like” doing more heavy lifting than a forklift. At first, it’s charming. It really is. There’s something authentic in the chaos of messy thoughts and the sense that everything is both catastrophic and deeply important at the same time.
But somewhere around the halfway mark, the charm starts to feel like déjà vu. The conversational style becomes repetitive, and what initially felt like realism starts edging into “please, for the love of plot progression, use a different sentence structure.” It’s easy reading, yes but sometimes too easy, like the narrative equivalent of being stuck on a treadmill set one speed forever.
Tilly herself is… a lot. She’s hormonal, defensive, argumentative in that teenage way where even agreeing feels like losing. She pushes boundaries with her parents, picks fights for sport, and often veers into selfishness that makes her difficult to root for. And while teenage messiness is realistic, there’s a difference between “complex character” and “I would like to gently confiscate your phone until you develop empathy.”
Her relationship with her grandfather, who is living with Alzheimer’s, is particularly frustrating. There are moments where warmth exists, but they’re often buried under refusal, resentment, or detachment that never quite earns its emotional payoff. Given her history with him, the lack of sustained compassion feels less like realism and more like narrative avoidance of deeper emotional engagement. True selfishness at it's core.
And then there’s Teddy: golden retriever energy in human form, tragically earnest, dressed like a walking nostalgia aisle (Care Bears, My Little Pony shirts, emotional vulnerability unprotected by irony). He deserves better. Honestly, at several points, so does everyone in a 10 metre radius of Tilly, including Katherine. Especially when Tilly outs Katherine for being gay.
Representation wise, the book does a solid job normalising queer and non binary identities without making them exotic or explanatory. Tilly is lesbian, Miroslaw is gay, Robin is nonbinary and Katherine is exploring her new queerness. These identities exist in the story as fact, not spectacle, which is refreshing even when the rest of the narrative is spiralling like a theatre rehearsal without a stage manager.
There is also the matter of tone around sex and masturbation: it’s not explicit, but it’s present, casual, and awkward in a recognisably teenage way. The intention is realism, and it mostly works, though it may well make some readers shift in their seat and suddenly become very interested in the carpet given it's involving sixteen year olds.
Plot wise, it’s fairly transparent. The emotional beats and ending are signposted early enough that you could probably predict them while half watching Netflix with a large glass of wine. There’s nothing wrong with predictability in YA, but here it does contribute to a feeling of low surprise and even lower narrative tension. The play itself is rushed at the end within the last 13 pages. So much build up for that....
And that, ultimately, is where it lands: Cupid's Revenge is a 'comfort' read that occasionally forgets it should also be a compelling read. It has some charm. It has voice. It has moments that feel honest and painfully familiar in that “oh God I was absolutely like this at sixteen” way.
But it also has a protagonist who can be hard to like, a style that overstays its welcome, and a romance that never quite becomes something to invest in beyond intellectual curiosity.
So yes, love might be the absolute pits. But so is sitting through 300+ pages of someone repeatedly saying the words 'like' and 'Katherine Cooper-Bunting'. I've already been 16 once, never again thank you very much.
We follow sixteen year old Tilly, who reluctantly agrees to help her best friend Teddy win over his crush, Katherine Cooper-Bunting (and yes, you will read that full name approximately seven thousand times per chapter), by joining a local theatre production. Naturally, this being YA romance, things do not stay simple. Tilly catches feelings for Katherine, loyalty gets messy, emotions get louder, and everything spirals into the sort of romantic confusion that makes you grateful you’re no longer sixteen and spiritually allergic to group projects.
The book leans heavily into its stylistic gimmick: it reads like a teenage diary, all breathless confession, clipped observation, and the word “like” doing more heavy lifting than a forklift. At first, it’s charming. It really is. There’s something authentic in the chaos of messy thoughts and the sense that everything is both catastrophic and deeply important at the same time.
But somewhere around the halfway mark, the charm starts to feel like déjà vu. The conversational style becomes repetitive, and what initially felt like realism starts edging into “please, for the love of plot progression, use a different sentence structure.” It’s easy reading, yes but sometimes too easy, like the narrative equivalent of being stuck on a treadmill set one speed forever.
Tilly herself is… a lot. She’s hormonal, defensive, argumentative in that teenage way where even agreeing feels like losing. She pushes boundaries with her parents, picks fights for sport, and often veers into selfishness that makes her difficult to root for. And while teenage messiness is realistic, there’s a difference between “complex character” and “I would like to gently confiscate your phone until you develop empathy.”
Her relationship with her grandfather, who is living with Alzheimer’s, is particularly frustrating. There are moments where warmth exists, but they’re often buried under refusal, resentment, or detachment that never quite earns its emotional payoff. Given her history with him, the lack of sustained compassion feels less like realism and more like narrative avoidance of deeper emotional engagement. True selfishness at it's core.
And then there’s Teddy: golden retriever energy in human form, tragically earnest, dressed like a walking nostalgia aisle (Care Bears, My Little Pony shirts, emotional vulnerability unprotected by irony). He deserves better. Honestly, at several points, so does everyone in a 10 metre radius of Tilly, including Katherine. Especially when Tilly outs Katherine for being gay.
Representation wise, the book does a solid job normalising queer and non binary identities without making them exotic or explanatory. Tilly is lesbian, Miroslaw is gay, Robin is nonbinary and Katherine is exploring her new queerness. These identities exist in the story as fact, not spectacle, which is refreshing even when the rest of the narrative is spiralling like a theatre rehearsal without a stage manager.
There is also the matter of tone around sex and masturbation: it’s not explicit, but it’s present, casual, and awkward in a recognisably teenage way. The intention is realism, and it mostly works, though it may well make some readers shift in their seat and suddenly become very interested in the carpet given it's involving sixteen year olds.
Plot wise, it’s fairly transparent. The emotional beats and ending are signposted early enough that you could probably predict them while half watching Netflix with a large glass of wine. There’s nothing wrong with predictability in YA, but here it does contribute to a feeling of low surprise and even lower narrative tension. The play itself is rushed at the end within the last 13 pages. So much build up for that....
And that, ultimately, is where it lands: Cupid's Revenge is a 'comfort' read that occasionally forgets it should also be a compelling read. It has some charm. It has voice. It has moments that feel honest and painfully familiar in that “oh God I was absolutely like this at sixteen” way.
But it also has a protagonist who can be hard to like, a style that overstays its welcome, and a romance that never quite becomes something to invest in beyond intellectual curiosity.
So yes, love might be the absolute pits. But so is sitting through 300+ pages of someone repeatedly saying the words 'like' and 'Katherine Cooper-Bunting'. I've already been 16 once, never again thank you very much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2026
well, first of all this book felt like it was written by an older person trying to mimic a younger person and their language but by mocking them!!! the constant use of acronyms like ‘lol’ ‘tbh’ and ‘tbf’ in the middle of a sentence was awful!!! and the phrases like ‘vom’ and describing a conversation using ‘and then she was like…’ was awful!!! i didn’t like how the story was written at all and Olivia’s character and the way she spoke was ridiculous!!! no one says ‘mate’ that often and when she said ‘innit’ i nearly threw the book across the room!!! and the constant use of hashtags was driving me CRAZY!!!
Tilly as a character was insufferable!! she was supposed to be 16 yet she felt like 12 or younger!! she was so inconsiderate of other people at times and completely petulant most of the time!!! the saving grace was Katherine!! i wish the book was told through her perspective!!!
i liked the other characters in this book!! i really liked Robin and their characterisation as well as Teddy!!!
the pacing was slightly off!! they had a very short time actually ‘together’ then the typical third act break up was very sudden and then it was resolved by at the VERY END!! i got to within 20 pages of finishing it and they hadn’t really resolved it!! i wished we saw more of the make up but it wasn’t the worst thing ever!! the rest of the book was pretty well based!! but the end did feel rushed!!!
the story of this book was INCREDIBLE!!! and if it was written better and like an adult wrote it i would have LOVED this even more but the writing and the constant reference to real life things or pop culture references were really off putting!!!
overall, i do recommend this book despite being slightly disappointed at it!! it had SO MUCH potential but unfortunately let me down slightly with the language and how it was written!!!
Tilly as a character was insufferable!! she was supposed to be 16 yet she felt like 12 or younger!! she was so inconsiderate of other people at times and completely petulant most of the time!!! the saving grace was Katherine!! i wish the book was told through her perspective!!!
i liked the other characters in this book!! i really liked Robin and their characterisation as well as Teddy!!!
the pacing was slightly off!! they had a very short time actually ‘together’ then the typical third act break up was very sudden and then it was resolved by at the VERY END!! i got to within 20 pages of finishing it and they hadn’t really resolved it!! i wished we saw more of the make up but it wasn’t the worst thing ever!! the rest of the book was pretty well based!! but the end did feel rushed!!!
the story of this book was INCREDIBLE!!! and if it was written better and like an adult wrote it i would have LOVED this even more but the writing and the constant reference to real life things or pop culture references were really off putting!!!
overall, i do recommend this book despite being slightly disappointed at it!! it had SO MUCH potential but unfortunately let me down slightly with the language and how it was written!!!
June 29, 2023
åh!!! kan brueggeman komma med en ny bok typ en gång i halvåret tack?
hon är så bra. älskar protagonisten tilly och allt som är hon! älskar teddy! älskar att de ska sätta upp en "cabaret" :D och det är brittiskt och gay och gulligt och lite jobbigt och det är en perfekt ungdomsbok, ja.
hon är så bra. älskar protagonisten tilly och allt som är hon! älskar teddy! älskar att de ska sätta upp en "cabaret" :D och det är brittiskt och gay och gulligt och lite jobbigt och det är en perfekt ungdomsbok, ja.
March 22, 2024
Was hard to reconcile the YA side (hashtags, references to fanfiction and instagram, kids hating their parents, etc etc) with the sex-centric side of the book. Like at the end of the day it was just 300+ pages about trying to fuck, which is great, but felt weird when centering theatre kids.
redemption star for gay :)
redemption star for gay :)
September 21, 2025
The word "like" is written 746 times in the book and no one actually knows what the characters look like (hence the 20 covers all with different characters design). This was a hot mess on so many levels.
January 13, 2024
Content warnings: grandparent with Alzheimer’s (central plot line), references to past death of friend, misgendering, bad parents (they are very selfishly focused on themselves and everyone else is inconveniencing them), hospital visit, outing, Covid-19/pandemic mentions.
Rep: Tilly (MC) is cis, white, and lesbian. Side lesbian character, side nonbinary character.
This book, like Wibke's first, was very hilarious. I adored this one just as much as the first.
There is a certain charm about these books about teenagers figuring out their places in life.
I adored Tilly's sense of humour, and her big heart. The sort-of romance between her and Katherine Cooper-Bunting was excellent, even if her BFF, Teddy was also in love with Katherine.
The plot was fantastic, the cast of characters amazing, and the entire story was completely enjoyable from start to finish.
Rep: Tilly (MC) is cis, white, and lesbian. Side lesbian character, side nonbinary character.
This book, like Wibke's first, was very hilarious. I adored this one just as much as the first.
There is a certain charm about these books about teenagers figuring out their places in life.
I adored Tilly's sense of humour, and her big heart. The sort-of romance between her and Katherine Cooper-Bunting was excellent, even if her BFF, Teddy was also in love with Katherine.
The plot was fantastic, the cast of characters amazing, and the entire story was completely enjoyable from start to finish.
December 12, 2025
peut être que si j'avais lu ça à 16 ans je me serais épargné quelques années de comphet... a méditer......
December 22, 2023
I’m a big theater fan so a YA romance centered on theater students sounded fun. Tilly is sixteen and is trying to help her best friend Teddy with a show audition. Teddy wants to do the show because his new dream girl Katherine Cooper-Bunting is also trying out. But Tilly can’t help being drawn to Katherine herself. Tilly is also dealing with her grandfather's dementia, a storyline which I thought was handled well. There are a lot of inner thoughts in the story and a lot of drama. There is frank and honest talk about sex and good representation, lesbians, gay and nonbinary characters.
I think this book tries too hard to be hip. I never hear kids speak this way. Also so many hashtags. At its core it is a sapphic romance which I wanted to enjoy more. I’m too old to be the target audience and can see this for high schoolers and up. It will probably hit better with its intended audience.
I think this book tries too hard to be hip. I never hear kids speak this way. Also so many hashtags. At its core it is a sapphic romance which I wanted to enjoy more. I’m too old to be the target audience and can see this for high schoolers and up. It will probably hit better with its intended audience.
February 11, 2024
“Fools in love, is all.”
This book had potential, I really believe it did. Sadly, it did not meet my expectations. I’ll start off with my good points: the way Alzheimer’s and grief in your teenage years was portrayed was really good and beautiful. The author took the time to explain it through actions and thoughts. But then my negative points: this book was full of spelling mistakes and errors, it made me question if anyone had proofread it, the romance between Tilly and Katherine was bad, teenagers aren’t only horny they have other feelings too, and seriously, I think the author wanted to make the book longer by writing Katherine’s full name EVERY SINGLE TIME, even the side characters had more chemistry than the main couple
This book had potential, I really believe it did. Sadly, it did not meet my expectations. I’ll start off with my good points: the way Alzheimer’s and grief in your teenage years was portrayed was really good and beautiful. The author took the time to explain it through actions and thoughts. But then my negative points: this book was full of spelling mistakes and errors, it made me question if anyone had proofread it, the romance between Tilly and Katherine was bad, teenagers aren’t only horny they have other feelings too, and seriously, I think the author wanted to make the book longer by writing Katherine’s full name EVERY SINGLE TIME, even the side characters had more chemistry than the main couple
February 25, 2024
Fairly cute, fairly funny, dragged on a bit long, not enough development of the central romance, lovely treatment of relationship between the narrator and her grandfather with Alzheimer’s and of her grandfather himself. In response to other reviews: it’s literally fine that the MC is a sex-crazed teen lesbian, the hash tags ARE annoying, and if you have not read Louise Rennison just go do that and this whole book will make so much more sense to you.
December 29, 2024
I didn’t love the ending and the hashtags got to be a bit much, but otherwise it was good.
April 12, 2024
Viete ako sú niektoré young-adult tak napísané, že sa dajú čítať aj keď má ten, čo berie knihu do ruky, 40? No, tak toto bol ten druhý prípad. Čistý young-adult pre young-adult :)
Osobne mi to nevadilo. Bolo to milé, úsmevné. Vždy som sa pri čítaní vrátila do svojich vlastných šestnástin. Trošku sme pohladkali aj dôležité témy ako stratu blízkeho, Alzheimera, coming out…
V zásade si myslím, že presne takto má vyzerať kniha pre násť-ročných a ľahko sa s ňou stotožnia (ja sama by som ju zbožňovala tak 10 rokov dozadu). To, že sa v nej bežne spomína napríklad aj pandémia bolo skvelé osvieženie. I liked it :)
Osobne mi to nevadilo. Bolo to milé, úsmevné. Vždy som sa pri čítaní vrátila do svojich vlastných šestnástin. Trošku sme pohladkali aj dôležité témy ako stratu blízkeho, Alzheimera, coming out…
V zásade si myslím, že presne takto má vyzerať kniha pre násť-ročných a ľahko sa s ňou stotožnia (ja sama by som ju zbožňovala tak 10 rokov dozadu). To, že sa v nej bežne spomína napríklad aj pandémia bolo skvelé osvieženie. I liked it :)
April 30, 2025
this was really cute!!
February 12, 2024
Long review incoming…
First I’ll talk about what I liked! What I did enjoy about this book was the side plot with the Grandad. I think the topic of alzheimer's was handled and written well and the idea worked into the main plot in a way I really enjoyed. As well as this the side plot with Grace’s spirit appearing in scenes, I really saw this play out in my head in a way you’d get in tv or film media and it was a nice touch. I also think the side characters were well written and rounded and you really got a feel for their personalities.
I’m afraid to say that might be about it.
I’m unsure whether the “and then I was like” “then they were like” is a translation thing or a strange stylistic choice but it became a bit grating. Same with the constant full naming of Katherine because oh my god we get it please stop.
The translations such as doughnuts and technology also having ÿ in them plus grammatical errors on every other page to the extent that it does makes this feel like it went through no editing process at all because they seem like obvious spots.
Also the hardback (and I assume the original) cover is absolutely gorgeous and the character designs seem so much more accurate. But the paperback cover design makes them look about 13 (which when you’re reading about their sexual fantasies becomes quite disturbing)
On that same subject I understand sex positivity and such with YA books but it just felt super uncomfortable and cringe. The humorous lines from Teddy for example sure funny cringe character but the constant thought process from Tilly just became weird to me. Also “naked in front of someone for the first time in my adult life” she isn’t an adult???
Honestly I think the plot would have worked better if these characters were 18 and Grace died at 16, and therefore the cringe fest dialogue and forced teen situations like the fan fiction hashtags and the LOLing weren’t a thing (also see: the horse thing cause wtf)
I really didn’t feel myself rooting for Tilly and Katherine and I love a good secret romance forbidden love type relationship but they just didn’t seem to click at all and their scenes together were just so dry.
Overall this had potential but it really could have done with further edits to really get it to the point it could have reached.
First I’ll talk about what I liked! What I did enjoy about this book was the side plot with the Grandad. I think the topic of alzheimer's was handled and written well and the idea worked into the main plot in a way I really enjoyed. As well as this the side plot with Grace’s spirit appearing in scenes, I really saw this play out in my head in a way you’d get in tv or film media and it was a nice touch. I also think the side characters were well written and rounded and you really got a feel for their personalities.
I’m afraid to say that might be about it.
I’m unsure whether the “and then I was like” “then they were like” is a translation thing or a strange stylistic choice but it became a bit grating. Same with the constant full naming of Katherine because oh my god we get it please stop.
The translations such as doughnuts and technology also having ÿ in them plus grammatical errors on every other page to the extent that it does makes this feel like it went through no editing process at all because they seem like obvious spots.
Also the hardback (and I assume the original) cover is absolutely gorgeous and the character designs seem so much more accurate. But the paperback cover design makes them look about 13 (which when you’re reading about their sexual fantasies becomes quite disturbing)
On that same subject I understand sex positivity and such with YA books but it just felt super uncomfortable and cringe. The humorous lines from Teddy for example sure funny cringe character but the constant thought process from Tilly just became weird to me. Also “naked in front of someone for the first time in my adult life” she isn’t an adult???
Honestly I think the plot would have worked better if these characters were 18 and Grace died at 16, and therefore the cringe fest dialogue and forced teen situations like the fan fiction hashtags and the LOLing weren’t a thing (also see: the horse thing cause wtf)
I really didn’t feel myself rooting for Tilly and Katherine and I love a good secret romance forbidden love type relationship but they just didn’t seem to click at all and their scenes together were just so dry.
Overall this had potential but it really could have done with further edits to really get it to the point it could have reached.
December 29, 2023
DNF @ 50%
As a theater kid the premise of this book sounded perfect for me. A girl who falls for her guy best friend's crush while putting on a play sounded amazing. I really wanted to like this book. I tried really hard to like this book, but unfortunately this just wasn't for me.
The main character, Tilly, felt like a 30 year old woman cosplaying as a teenager. Imagine the mom from means girls that thinks she is a "cool mom" and that is exactly how this FMC talks and acts. No teenager talks in the way that Tilly does and it was so cringy and hard to read.
I also didn't vibe with this writing style. The writing style was ok at times (Typically during moments that were side plot lines), and just not good in the main storyline. I really struggled with this one. None of the characters are likable and there are a lot of things said that just didn't vibe with me from the constant digs at how terrible Fanfic is to the constantly calling artistic people weird, I struggled to get into the story. I also understand this is supposed to be a coming of age story destigmatizing sex, but it was done poorly. The random sexual thoughts felt gross and always came at strange times that didn't flow in the story.
This premise was good and I loved the idea, but I just didn't enjoy the execution. If I hadn't received an ARC of this I would have DNF'd a lot sooner, but I really wanted to love this book so I gave it more chances than I should have.
As a theater kid the premise of this book sounded perfect for me. A girl who falls for her guy best friend's crush while putting on a play sounded amazing. I really wanted to like this book. I tried really hard to like this book, but unfortunately this just wasn't for me.
The main character, Tilly, felt like a 30 year old woman cosplaying as a teenager. Imagine the mom from means girls that thinks she is a "cool mom" and that is exactly how this FMC talks and acts. No teenager talks in the way that Tilly does and it was so cringy and hard to read.
I also didn't vibe with this writing style. The writing style was ok at times (Typically during moments that were side plot lines), and just not good in the main storyline. I really struggled with this one. None of the characters are likable and there are a lot of things said that just didn't vibe with me from the constant digs at how terrible Fanfic is to the constantly calling artistic people weird, I struggled to get into the story. I also understand this is supposed to be a coming of age story destigmatizing sex, but it was done poorly. The random sexual thoughts felt gross and always came at strange times that didn't flow in the story.
This premise was good and I loved the idea, but I just didn't enjoy the execution. If I hadn't received an ARC of this I would have DNF'd a lot sooner, but I really wanted to love this book so I gave it more chances than I should have.
February 26, 2024
✩ 2.5 stars ✩
⤿ Thank you to Macmillan's Childrens Books for the arc through netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
As it goes sometimes with books I am not particularly fond of, I remember very little of this book. However, I do remember how it made me feel which was, weird and not in a good way. The biggest issue I had was with the writing style of this book, as it was trying to be very teenage-centric but I think it failed pretty heavily. While I may not be entirely within that group anymore, I can tell you that the majority of teenagers do not speak or act in the way these main characters do.
I'm not much of a young adult contemporary or romance reader anymore, and that's one of the main reasons. I really felt like I could not connect with the main characters, and they were not reminiscent of many teenagers I knew. The slang used was cringey, and I really feel like the author kind of just imagined what teenagers would say without actually knowing any. I also completely recognize most everyone does things that are silly or "bad" decisions when they are teenagers, but the main character made some that were REALLY silly. I just couldn't find ways for me to connect with her and that's a big issue for me, as I really love realistic characters.
[TW: death of a friend/child, car accident, death of loved ones, covid-related death, aids death mentioned, broken bones, hospital visit, sexual scenes mentioned]
⤿ Thank you to Macmillan's Childrens Books for the arc through netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
As it goes sometimes with books I am not particularly fond of, I remember very little of this book. However, I do remember how it made me feel which was, weird and not in a good way. The biggest issue I had was with the writing style of this book, as it was trying to be very teenage-centric but I think it failed pretty heavily. While I may not be entirely within that group anymore, I can tell you that the majority of teenagers do not speak or act in the way these main characters do.
I'm not much of a young adult contemporary or romance reader anymore, and that's one of the main reasons. I really felt like I could not connect with the main characters, and they were not reminiscent of many teenagers I knew. The slang used was cringey, and I really feel like the author kind of just imagined what teenagers would say without actually knowing any. I also completely recognize most everyone does things that are silly or "bad" decisions when they are teenagers, but the main character made some that were REALLY silly. I just couldn't find ways for me to connect with her and that's a big issue for me, as I really love realistic characters.
[TW: death of a friend/child, car accident, death of loved ones, covid-related death, aids death mentioned, broken bones, hospital visit, sexual scenes mentioned]
January 31, 2025
everybody boooo for my least favourite trope - weird relationship with a parent which is never addressed!!! let’s not normalise… whatever the fuck this is.
anyway, this was kind of boring. which was devastating, because i liked “love is for losers” so much. it felt so unique and cute and this one just didn’t. it had the same vibe in terms of “this author fucking LOVES girls”, which is always a lovely experience to be a part of, but other than that, it bored me a bit. also, there are a LOT of editing issues, such as “act iv” being on the top of a random fucking page and like not centred whatsoever, and whenever there was a “hn” it corrected to a “Ÿ” for some reason, so we got gems like “tecŸology” and “dougŸuts”, and other random shit like that
- “I've completely forgotten how to behave in real life. I mean, it's not TikTok is it?” huh?? 😭😭😭 are we feeling down with the kids
- “if she’s on IG”
- “obviously is LOL”
- “#consent” let’s… not… jokeify consent
- “‘You're my best child,' Mum said.
'Lies,' I told her. 'But I don't care. I don't need you people to love me to feel valued as a person.'” kinda ate cos your mum’s a cunt but why does this entire family talk like ai
anyway, this was kind of boring. which was devastating, because i liked “love is for losers” so much. it felt so unique and cute and this one just didn’t. it had the same vibe in terms of “this author fucking LOVES girls”, which is always a lovely experience to be a part of, but other than that, it bored me a bit. also, there are a LOT of editing issues, such as “act iv” being on the top of a random fucking page and like not centred whatsoever, and whenever there was a “hn” it corrected to a “Ÿ” for some reason, so we got gems like “tecŸology” and “dougŸuts”, and other random shit like that
- “I've completely forgotten how to behave in real life. I mean, it's not TikTok is it?” huh?? 😭😭😭 are we feeling down with the kids
- “if she’s on IG”
- “obviously is LOL”
- “#consent” let’s… not… jokeify consent
- “‘You're my best child,' Mum said.
'Lies,' I told her. 'But I don't care. I don't need you people to love me to feel valued as a person.'” kinda ate cos your mum’s a cunt but why does this entire family talk like ai
March 25, 2023
A perfect display of British youth. Tilly is in crisis. The pandemic lockdown has just ended, but it took her grandmother with it leaving her grandfather alone and dealing with dementia. Her dad feeling guilty for not being there decides to move him into the spare room. The problem being only Tilly is there to care for him as her family are too focused on their creative careers and never thought through the impact of caring for someone. In comes Teddy, Tilly’s best friend, who has suddenly fallen in love with Katherine Cooper-Bunting, great news since his last crush was their best friend who tragically passed away. Tilly agrees to be Teddy’s wingwoman, happy he’s moving on, even agreeing to go with him to audition for a play his crush is attending. There’s just one problem. Tilly has also fallen in love with Katherine and between the production of Cupids Revenge and handling family matters Tilly’s life gets flipped upside down, the good, the bad and the horny are about to take over.
May 23, 2024
3,5 or 4 stars?? I don’t know…
It was really cute and fun and kind of heartbreaking (but also heartwarming, don’t worry) and a little cringy sometimes. I listened to the audiobook, which was amazing because I don’t think I would have enjoyed actually reading it quite as much as just listening to the story while walking, as it was really easy and obviously written for actual teenagers.
Also big theatre nerd myself so a book about a bunch of queer kids doing theatre?? Yes please :))
It was really cute and fun and kind of heartbreaking (but also heartwarming, don’t worry) and a little cringy sometimes. I listened to the audiobook, which was amazing because I don’t think I would have enjoyed actually reading it quite as much as just listening to the story while walking, as it was really easy and obviously written for actual teenagers.
Also big theatre nerd myself so a book about a bunch of queer kids doing theatre?? Yes please :))
June 15, 2024
One of the only books that I’ve DNF’ed. The writing just wasn’t enjoyable and the storyline just made me unhappy. Sad because I really wanted to like it - you win some you lose some.
May 1, 2025
3.5 stars. coverbaiting (when the cover is better than the book) is a very real and serious phenomenon.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews